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This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned:
Course ExperienceI have to admit that this course was far more challenging than I had imagined it would be. I had thought to myself: ?I speak English and I am a writer on top of it. I have a good sense of what is proper and improper. How difficult can it be?? But the fact is, I had no idea how many rules the English language had and I certainly had no idea how to teach them. It was an eye-opener to learn how a single word can change the meaning of a sentence and it is essential to teach these shades of meaning to a language student. There is far more to teaching language than simple vocabulary words, verbs, adjectives, etc. Structure must be taught. This in itself is a challenge because the structure of the English language is different from the structure of a foreign language such as Spanish.
It was also an eye-opener to me that a student?s culture must be taken into consideration as well as their mother-tongue. The challenges of an Asian student are different from that of a Hispanic student. Getting a Hispanic student to participate may be far less challenging than getting an Asian student to do so. An Asian student may have far more difficulty in learning to pronounce L and R, whereas the Hispanic student may have difficulty with the SH sound. This course has taught me, therefore, that there is more to teaching English than simply jumping into a classroom and getting started.
Then there is the matter of adult student versus young student. Then young students depend on age group such as seven year old versus teenage years. I learned about the differences in potential learning capacity and motivation and how the age of the student has affect on these factors. A class must be adapted to the specific needs of a group. A lesson plan for one group may be ineffective for another.
I also learned about the importance of teaching the specific areas of reading, listening, speaking and writing. None of these areas should be neglected.
I learned about proper methods of correcting and particularly appreciated the benefits of having the students correct themselves and each other when they are able. On that note I also learned about group work and pair work and the benefits of using stronger students to help weaker ones.
I really appreciated the guidance received in making a lesson plan and the different phases of a lesson ? engage, study, and activate. The use of games was interesting and I am excited to put this into practice in the classroom.
And I valued the feed-back of my on-line tutor. Many times I turned in my worksheets questioning whether I did okay or not. At times I felt I answered correctly and then received fee-back to the contrary. At other times I felt I did not do as well and received positive feed-back. I truly appreciated his guidance.
And I must mention the value of the video. I was able to put myself in the eyes of the student and truly think about the effects of positive and negative teaching methods. That video had more impact on me than I had imagined it would.
This course was challenging yet enjoyable and I will recommend it to anyone. It opened a window into my own language that I did not even realize was closed. When a person learns a new language, it is as if a new world is opened to them. I look forward to introducing a new world to my future students.
